Children & dental health

There should be greater regulation of nursery menus. I was appalled to discover that my 1 year old has a sugary pudding twice a day and talking to other Mums this seems to be the norm.

My kids visit the dentist once a year, so far no decay but it is hard to get an appointment at a time that suits when they are in school and both parents work full time.  We are careful about brushing and I restrict access to fizzy drinks and sweets.  There is an astonishing variety of sweets available in our corner shop and very cheaply too.  I am trying to educate the kids about making healthy choices but it's difficult when they think all their friends are buying sweets all the time.  I am struggling to convince them that fruit juice is bad for their teeth and not really all that healthy.  I feel that it takes a lot of parental effort to acheive good dental hygiene when there is so much temptation around.  

My children and I visit the dental practice once annually. Although, I realise it should be more often. It’s easy to obtain an appointment and I normally tend to book these during the school holidays. TBH, my children do consume a lot of sugary items and sweets. The father tends to shower them with a lot of sweets! The dentist did clearly state “tell the children’s father not to give them sweets” due to tooth decay. Although, the dentist was satisfied with their overall oral hygiene and recommended that they brush their teeth twice daily for approximately two minutes. Personally, the message is loud and clear with a top down approach (central government) to local authority level as well as the media with regards to healthy eating etc. I think it’s an issue that parents need to implement and promote healthy eating within their families (ie cut down on junk food as well as sugary contents etc).

The thing that's made the geatest diufference to my dental hygiene has been moving to an electric toothbrush - it is so much more effective. Encouraging their use (especially if this could be gameified) is probably a lot easier than trying to get children to stop eating junk.

What has shocked me is the incredibly poor link between GPs and dentists, and GPs weak knowledge of the damage that antibiotics - in pregnancy and babyhood - can do to teeth.  My youngest, and several other children I know, have weakened/absent enamel on some teeth, which dentists attribute to babyhood antibiotics.  GPs should be taught to discuss the life-long consequences of early antibiotic use with parents, and to help them to weigh up and decide on risks.  Had I known that there was a risk to my child's teeth, I would probably have delayed giving him antibiotics (he wasn't seriously ill).  

We have no problems getting NHS appointments for our children, and greatly valued the support of the dental health worker who used to visit the nursery.  Fluoride treatment is provided every 6 months at school: this is a good way of supporting the dental health of children who don't visit the dentist.  

I work with children up to the age of five within the NHS. At present in Westminster we are commissioed to provide tooth brushes and tooth paste to all children we see. There are very few parents aware of the need to start brushing their children's teeth as soon as they appear. Almost no children I see are registered with a dentist at the age of one year, and very few by the age of two. London has the highest rate of child obesity and child tooth decay in the country, the mesages about healthy eating and dental care are simply not getting through to people. Everyday I see children buying bags of sweets, chocolate bars and fizzy drinks on their way to school, then fried chicken on their way home. 

Our 8 year old goes every 6 months and has had a total of one small filling in a milk tooth. normally gets the all clear from the dentist each time. We pay for it but it is cheap local and easy to book so all good with us. Luckily for us she rarely drinks sugary drinks and likes savory food more than sweets.

I think the mayor's office needs to focus on addressing knife crime in London, before it move on to dental health.

Have a 7 month old with 9 teeth already through. Have found my NHS dentist easy to get appointments with but I know other surgeries are not so easy to get appointments with. Am weaning using baby led method and am very conscious of both natural sugars (fruit, veg and carbs) and added sugars. Brush teeth twice a day and currently avoiding added sugars as much as possible. 

Health visitors and children centre staff are very much pushing the message of "No sugar" but do not necessarily explain difference between natural sugars found in food and added sugars. 

In addition, most babies first taste of something other than milk (breast or formula) is Calpol/paracetamol solution at their inoculations which can be sugar free but is exceptionally sweet tasting. If we don't want babies to grow up with a sweet tooth, why is our only pain relief option a sweet sticky syrup. 

It's not just the food they eat.  Kids have to have good oral hygiene and as repetitive as I am, I will constantly remind them to brush brush brush.  And floss.  The hygiene has got to become part of their way of life just like breathing.  And then ofcourse, think about the food, especially the timing of what you eat.  e.g. mangoes are fabulous fruit but with plenty of sugar - the type of texture and intensity that sits on your tooth after eating one.  So think about what you're eating in that sense too, not just as in 'junk is bad for you'.  And chew sugar free gum - it can't be bad for little bit after eating and before the next brush, if anyhting you can always rinse with plenty of WATER.  Having said that, my kids have still had some issues but hopefully lighter than what they would have had and hopefully, as this happened on their milk teeth, the issue made enough impact to wake them up to the reality of an unhealthy mouth and the multiple problems that it can bring in adulthood.  Oral health is essential and those who end up with acute issues suffer immensely and it's misery - the sooner the kids realise this the better.  So I won't give up.....and visit the dentist at least 1x per annum and the hygienist 2x per annum.  good luck!